In keeping up with the pre-Grammy hysteria this week, we here at Classicalite want to keep you readers abreast of only the most pertinent news. This one comes as an update (and perhaps our projected winner) to the category of Best Jazz Instrumental Album.

The late Marvin Hamlisch will be paid tribute this month by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and Maestro Jack Everly in Maryland. Jack Everly will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Thursday, January 23 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore, as well as on Friday, January 24 and Saturday, January 25. On Sunday, January 26 at 3 p.m., the party moves to Baltimore proper's Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

There is something tremendous about being an artist. The idea of "art"--as a figurative umbrella--can be posited into music, onto canvas or sculpted 16 feet above one's head. And yet, it's that lattermost idea which will soon be postulated by eight-time Grammy winner Herb Alpert, who has a new collection of sculptures set to unveil in New York City's Dante Park at West 64th Street.

This year's Grammy nominations for jazz contain what some see as a shocking omission: Chick Corea, the jazz pianist, received no nominations this year. Corea, 72, has been a Grammy favorite for decades, with a total of 20 Grammys to his credit, including the two he won last year. But his latest album The Vigil was passed over.

The Grammy nominations are out, and as often happens, the list is rather rife with surprises, with what might have seemed more central fare often edged out (with telling exceptions such as Simon Rattle's 'Rite of Spring'). Relatively small labels like 2L and ArtistShare have multiple nominations, while indie giants like Harmonia Mundi, Hyperion and BIS getting few or one. Or none.

In a world that seems more likely to rip us apart, rather than bring us together, there is the occasional exception that offers some glimpse of hope--no matter how misplaced it may be. More apropos, at a time when musicians would collaborate to boost record sales, rather than to further their creative consciousness, it’s refreshing to see like minds come together, indeed.

The Herbie Hancock Quartet will open the 2013-14 Symphony Center Presents Jazz Series with a concert on October 11. This performance kicks off the 20th anniversary season of the jazz series that is known as being one of the most comprehensive in the nation.

Julie Harris, the diminutive actress who won five Tony Awards for her stage performances and was also honored for her work in television and film, died on Saturday at age 87, a Massachusetts funeral home said.